How to live life the LoLo way…

>A Happy Shiny Wednesday

>Good morning, y’all! It’s a gorgeous Wednesday morning. There are two gentlemen on my roof (for the second day in a row) scraping off our dirty, rotten shingles to be replaced with happy, shiny new ones (and hopefully some flashing this time. Oy). We are expecting a day full of friends and fun, so I’m just popping in to say….

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! Remember to wear your green, and have a very happy St. Patrick’s Day! We have cookies baking in the oven for a playdate, and corned beef n’ cabbage, with soda bread, on the menu for tonight.

What are your plans? Do you ignore the whole St. Patricks Thing altogether, do you celebrate with green beer (hi, Grandpa! I know what you’re doing tonight!), or do you sit down with friends and enjoy boiled cabbage? Mmmmm.

In case the whole Corned Beef n’ Cabbage thing is new to you, here’s our recipes for tonight.

Here is our recipe for soda bread, from Recipzaar. It bakes for 60 minutes in a 9×9 pan. The batter is really loose, like a muffin batter. Be sure to cut the fat in by hand, and mix the wet ingredients in with a spoon if you are not using a food processor. Oh, and I plump my raisins in hot water, not whiskey.

For our corned beef, I picked up a corned beef brisket at Costco. It includes the seasoning packet. (You could probably find a similar thing in almost any grocery store today.) I’ve heard that the flavor is better if you put together your own spices, but I was going to spend as much on spices as I did on the meat if I bought the spices new, as most of them are not currently in my pantry.

Basically, you boil your brisket, red potatoes and cabbage in the biggest pot you have, with the appropriate seasonings. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a side of soda bread. Mmmmm.